Asymmetry of protracted tongue: can it replace the Wada test?

Med Hypotheses

Department of Neurology, DaeJeon HanKook Hospital, ChungCheongNam-Do, South Korea.

Published: May 2010

Some asymmetry of body parts (thumbs, cubital crease levels, popliteal crease levels, toes, breasts, gonads and facial structures) is commonly observed. And there is also neurobehavioral asymmetry such as handedness and language lateralization. Since right-handedness is closely associated with left-hemisphere dominance for language, it is known that handedness can be linked with language lateralization. But because cultural and social pressures influence handedness, handedness is able to shift. If so, handedness can't always reflect language lateralization. We can also detect another asymmetry in protracted tongue which is thought to be inherently unchangeable. Some midline deviation of fully protracted tongue is observed in every person. Protractor of the tongue, genioglossus muscle, is solely innervated by contralateral corticobulbar fibers from the inferior part of precentral gyrus. This part is closely related with language expressive area. Therefore, the midline deviation of tongue observed when it is fully protracted could be more related with language lateralization than handedness changeable to external pressures.

Download full-text PDF

Source
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.mehy.2009.11.012DOI Listing

Publication Analysis

Top Keywords

language lateralization
16
protracted tongue
12
asymmetry protracted
8
crease levels
8
midline deviation
8
fully protracted
8
tongue observed
8
handedness
6
language
6
tongue
5

Similar Publications

Want AI Summaries of new PubMed Abstracts delivered to your In-box?

Enter search terms and have AI summaries delivered each week - change queries or unsubscribe any time!